WordPress Basics

Word Press is an open-source web development software that can also be used as a CMS (Content Management System). WordPress was founded in Houston Texas and now is the leading web software tool on the planet! A lot of this is due to the Global WordPress community; they’re really good about sharing and giving back. Friendly, in other words, like Missoula but even weirder because you have WordPress developers all over the world making the magical WordPress “Plug-ins” and some of them write great code but the instructions are often confusing because of the language barrier.

Top ten reason to use WordPress even if you have NO programming skills whatsoever:

GOOD, FAST, CHEAP AND EASY: WordPress sites are built in the WordPress “Dashboard” which shows up in your web browser of choice, Chrome, Microsoft Exploder, Firefox, Opera (really nice and elegant!), Safari, etc….. You need to buy ZERO software to develop a WordPress website. Just buy your domain name (.99 lately at GoDaddy) and get a web hosting plan. One of the things I offer my clients is free hosting. I’m currently hosting about 30 sites. The “site builder” packages at both Host Gator (Great service!) and GoDaddy are extremely limited. I’ve already met a couple of clients in Missoula who have purchased one of these packages and found it WAY to complex. I called GoDaddy for one client and got them to refund her money. Go GoDaddy!

PLUG-INS: This is some of the magic secret sauce of the WordPress Community. Virtually all of the 100,000’s of plugins are FREE! They just want to ask you for a $5 donation. I cover a lot of interesting Plugins in my other articles. Bottom line: plugins give you lots of functionality with NO PROGRAMMING! Not HTML code, No PHP code.

EASY MOBILE VERSIONS: Yup, there’s even a bunch of plugins to help convert your site into and Android or iPhone format. This used to be a real pain in the ass a few years ago. Now it’s a matter of freaking just choosing the plugin you like best.

WORDPRESS HELP FORUMS: Yes, I might as well admit it; sometimes I have to look up some new little widget or bit of custom code for something and I use the online help here. That’s free too!

WORDPRESS YOUTUBE TUTORIALS: Just go onto YouTube and type in WordPress tutorials and you’re off and running. Get stuck on something, just drop me a line or give me a call.

E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS: There are a few WordPress shopping carts and store, but the better ones only cost $50-100. Checkout the store at www.WendyTaylorMusic.com and you’ll see a simple WordPress store that most any computer user with some patience and perseverance can set up. It all depends on how valuable your time is. I can put up small stores fast and cheap because I’ve had practice.

FREE AUTOMATED EASY BACKUP: Well, this another plugin, well, actually dozens of them. I recommend “WordPress Backup for DropBox.” Dropbox will give you 2 Free GB’s and websites are small. Pleeeennntty of room!

BUILT IN SEO: WordPress has built in search engine optimization tools AND there are some terrific plugins like All-in-one-Seo Pack that get you results in Google quick. I’ve got lots of number one Google hits. Just search Wendy Taylor or Roof Top Shooter and you’ll see that I’ve gotten Wendy’s site showing up ahead of her Facebook page. I’ve also beat out Wikipedia a few times. That’s tough!

FLEXIBILITY: WordPress let’s you have lots of options:

You can have a Blog AND a website or one or the other.

WordPress IS also a Content Management System. For instance, it manages all of you’re online users/bloggers and keeps a media library of all your uploaded photos, songs, videos, etc.

There’s tons of WordPress capable people in Missoula who can help you. Me, I’ve been creating websites since 1996 and I can design, build and optimize a site in 4-8 hours. If you hire me, I’ll teach you WordPress as we go and then have you off on your own blogging away in no time.

PLATFORM INDEPENDENT: WordPress sites just plain work on all browsers almost perfectly all the time. NEVER build a website using Microsoft Front Page because that program writes non-conforming code that doesn’t display properly on browsers other than Microsoft Exploder.